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I have a sonos amp connected to Sonance outdoor speakers.  The speakers have both stopped working (only the tweater is working on each speaker). This is the second time in two years that the sonance speakers stopped working.  

 

1. I have reset the amp

2. Checked wiring

3. Had sonos customer service perform diagnostics over the phone (listening to speaker).  He said the amp is working properly, this is a speaker issue.

4.  I talked to Sonance customer service.  He said that the speakers are definitely blown.  He said this is NOT a common problem they see (and they put tons of them in marine environments).  He said that he thinks this is a sonos amp problem and while sonos amps can over power these speakers, properly functioning ones should not.  

So, below is a review of my system. 

The outside zone consists of one sonos amp powered through a surge protector, 30 feet of 16-4AWG, Oxygen free, CL3 and burial rated wire to each speaker with only the black and red leads connected. The speakers are protected well against the house and under the eaves of a beach house.

I also had the sonos app set to only allow 83% of volume.

 

Thus,  what do you guys think I am doing wrong?  Any way to prevent this from happening again?  Do I need to get a different amp?

 

Sonos Amp is powerful, but it is hard to pin this down to that. What volume levels on the slider of the Amp do you run the Amp to get the desired sound levels in the space? 100% of 83% for extended periods may blow the speakers. I would look to run the amp at about 50% in absolute terms, which is about 60% of 83. The solution to then get desired sound levels is to move the speakers closer to the listening areas because outdoors, sound levels drop much faster with distance. If that isn't possible you may need speakers that can handle the higher power levels that Sonos amp will put out at say 90% absolute levels.

Different Amp would make little difference unless it had far less power, then you’d be likely to over-drive it, distort, and fry tweeters.

Hard to give a definitive answer without looking at the speakers to see what failed, crossover, speaker coil or cone. But in every case I’d think pushing the speaker past the levels it can play cleanly and either the power or cone motion exceeds what it is designed to deal with.

If you are pushing them to very loud levels, common on an outdoor setup, you might consider adding more speakers so each is driven less hard. Another pair would be ½ and the maximum of six would be 1/3 as much power going through each.

Thank you,  those comments make sense.  I will turn off the loudness button on the amp app and limit voume to 60%.

 

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